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“Science we need for the ocean we want”: UN workshop brought together ocean experts from 15 Indian Ocean rim countries
The incessant and uncontrolled human activities occurring over ocean as well as over land have resulted in the deterioration of the health of the marine eco system. The pollutants in ocean can be transferred back through the food chain and affect the well being of humans. Marine pollution together with the climate change is altering the habitats of marine species and has resulted in the extinction of certain species and also has made vulnerable the coastal and island population.
Realising the urgent need to address these issues, the United Nations general Assembly in its seventy second session held in December 2017 has declared the decade 2021-2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science to support the efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and to bring together global ocean stake holders behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 14. For achieving this, workshops involving stake holders and domain experts are being conducted to address both deep disciplinary understanding of ocean processes and solution-oriented research to generate new knowledge. This knowledge will support societal actors in reducing pressures on the ocean, preserving and restoring ocean ecosystems and safeguarding ocean-related prosperity for generations to come.
In order to address and collate the views of the of the countries in the Indian Ocean and ROPME region the Regional Planning Workshop for the Northern/Central Indian Ocean countries as well as ROPME sea area is held at NIOT, Chennai during 8th -10th January, 2020 to identify the region specific priorities, requirement and contribution to the objectives of the UN decade of Ocean Sciences for sustainable Development.
The six societal outcomes identified for deliberations were:
- A clean ocean where sources of pollution are identified and removed
- A healthy and resilient ocean where marine ecosystems are mapped and protected
- A predictable ocean where we can understand current and future ocean conditions
- A safe ocean where people are protected from ocean hazards
- A sustainably harvested ocean ensuring the provision of food supply
- A transparent ocean with open access to data, information and technologies
About 100 delegates from various countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Congo, France, Kuwait, Maldives, Russia Tunisia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA and India participated in the event. The experts also interacted with young scientists and students from various universities and organisations across India in an effort to involve the younger generation in taking the activities forward. The major flagship activities recommended from this region are
- To develop a Regional Framework for Coastal Vulnerability towards the Safety, Security and Sustainable Development of Member States in the Indian Ocean.
- Monitoring and Management of Marine litter and research on micro plastics
- Tsunami Early Warning in the Indian Ocean.
- Inventory with knowledge gaps in existing programmes, studies and researches
maximizing their wide and equitable usage towards the UN Decade success.
Dr. M. A. Atmanand, Director, NIOT as a member of the Executive Planning Group  of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission  played a key role in bringing this event to India. Dr. Justin Ahanhanzo, IOC- UNESCO, Dr. Sidney Thurston , Dr. M. V. Ramana Murthy, Director, NCCR were leading workshop.
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